Horner Park Advisory Council
Minutes
February 2, 2015
The HPAC meeting was called to order at the Horner Park Fieldhouse at 7:08pm.
Previous Minutes:
The minutes of the January 2015 meetings were approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
The following funds are in HPAC accounts:
Checking $22,176.15
Savings $14,877.93
PayPal $5,460.47
Total $42,514.55
QuickBooks has not been reconciled with these accounts.
Kevin is still working on classifying the balances with specific projects.
Dog Friendly Area Committee: No Report
Concert Committee:
Amy and John and John O meet to discuss the budget and calendar for both the Concert Series and the RMIA Manor Bash. Old Town School of Music is a partner again this year.
John is still working on identifying possible acts and partnerships.
Amy created and distributed a straw-man proposal for the revised tri-fold brochure that is used for advertising the Summer Concert Series. This new proposal would be a more general Horner Park brochure, which would talk about all the projects being pursued by HPAC. The expectation is that the brochure would be useable for 2-3 years.
John O reported that there are 247 households, 115 past sponsors, and 160 businesses that are potential sponsors of the concerts. The business were identified through yelp, the aldermen, and leg work on the part of John O. The business are located on Montrose, Irving Park, and Ravenswood. Based on these numbers, Amy is going to get printing estimates for the tri-old brochure, the letter, and the doorstop brochure.
John F. and Tom are working on getting a movie for Horner Park.
Tom proposed that there be something added to the field house to describe HPAC. He is going to work with Amy to identify possible alternatives.
Farmer’s Market: No Report
Park Briefs:
Horner Park:
CPD is on a hiring freeze. Two instructors have resigned and cannot be replaced at this time. Tom also wants the woodshop instructor to be put on a full time schedule – he would be able to fill every class.
The new Mustang Basketball league is very successful – there are 5 teams with more being added. The goal is to have a year round league.
Day camp at Horner Park will be increased to 340 participants.
Chicago Fire approached the Chicago Park District regarding a partnership in the use of their new bubble. The bubble comes down in the spring.
River Front: There is a gap in the fence, which needs a gate. The tarp is down so it is possible to see how beautiful the park looks. Unfortunately, the view across the river is spoiled by concrete.
The under-bridge connector project at Irving Park had to be redesigned because of the river front restoration work and is postponed to 2016.
Several people dumped their Christmas trees in Horner. Tom is leaving the trees for a while as a message to the community that Horner Park is not a Christmas tree disposal area.
Ravenswood Manor Park:
There continues to be a light issue. The fence is broken down.
Jacob Park:
Tom has been talking with Bill downtown, to integrate the playground with the new design. Trees were put up that block the view of the train. Nate commented that these were planted and a tree was removed without input from the community. Tom asked for input and will talk to the relevant people to make sure they know the wants of the community.
Nate asked about river access. Tom explained that the water-front access is beyond the scope of the park district.
Buffalo Park: No report
Sunken Gardens: No report
Website Committee:
Amy is proposing using email and Facebook pages to augment our marketing efforts for both HPAC and Horner Park events.
Stewardship Committee:
Friends of the River wants to know if we are going to have projects for River Day. Horner doesn’t make sense. Jacob has a fence so it is not possible to access the river. John will contact Luke about sunken gardens.
No one has heard from Friends of the Park about Earth Day. Tom will follow up on this issue.
New Business:
Valentine’s Dance – Feb. 13, with the Horner Park Jazz Band
Chili Cook-off – Feb. 22 at the Red Lion at 1pm (to benefit DFA)
River Day – May 9
Farmer’s Market Opening – June 6
Attendance:
Peter Schlossman – President , John Friedmann – Vice-President, Kevin Anderson – Treasurer , Amy Jahnke – Co-Secretary, Lisa Cleveland – Co-Secretary, Tom McManamon – Park Supervisor, John O’Connell – Chair, Concert, Stewardship, and Nominating Committees, Nate Hutchinson – Neighbor
